Delegates at the Multi-addictions Conference were given tips yesterday on how to spot infants born with drug addiction.

Speaker Andrew Osborne explained that children growing up in families with substance abuse issues often have behavioural problems which last right into adulthood.

Mr. Osborne, who is the head trainer for the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research and has worked in some of the toughest parts of New York, said infants exposed to drugs tend to be born prematurely with low size and weight and register low APGAR scores.

They are also ten times more likely to succumb to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Small eye slits and ears, thin upper lips and snub noses are also signs, said Mr. Osborne who was speaking at one of the seminars at the Multi-addictions Conference at the Fairmont Hamilton yesterday.

Drugs shrink the blood vessels in the umbilical chords of gestating mothers, which then starves affected babies of nutrients ? a problem which continues into childhood and affected babies are more likely to have problems sucking and swallowing.

?A crack baby shrieks because they are hungry but they don?t have the ability to suck,? Mr. Osborne said. ?It will make a young mum miserable as well.?

They are often difficult to soothe, avoid eye contact and won?t smile, he added.

Rigid trembling babies can be showing signs of withdrawal while hyperactivity as well as lethargy are also indicators, although he stressed such symptoms can also be indicators of other problems.

He said: ?I am lumping all the drugs together here, it?s rare now for people to use one drug. They use two or three drugs.?

He said food allergies are often the lasting effects of poor diets which consisted only of irregular servings of fast food.

The problem will rear up when kids start having healthier food, breaking the monotony of their home diet.

Teachers can spot children at risk by their behaviours, said Mr. Osborne. They often crave routine which they do not get in homes centred around drugs.

?They don?t like change because it is usually followed by something negative.?

Youngsters living with substance abusers can be spotted in other ways. Classroom jokers often practice their routines at home to ward off moody, strung-out parents. ?They think ?if everybody is happy nothing bad is going to happen to me?,? Mr. Osborne said.

Others go in the opposite direction, taking on adult roles and helping younger siblings because there is no one capable at home.

?They are very hard on themselves and rarely have fun,? he said. ?They are very responsible and they are constantly seeking approval.?

He said this could manifest itself in a keen desire to get top marks and an over-reaction to small setbacks.

Some drug-affected children prefer to have substance abusers as parents because they can do what they want at home, he added.

Building relationships with children whose parents were addicts is often difficult.

During a question and answer session, Mr. Osborne said that cocaine can piggy-back on sperm but what this means for children of cocaine using fathers has not yet been researched, while the problems drug-addicted mothers bring on their unborn babies has been well covered.